Sitting is the new Smoking? This myth we need to dispel!

Countless recent publications claim that sitting is the new Smoking. From 2012 to 2016, the amount of media devoted to this subject has increased in 12 times. Moreover, the propagation of this myth also involved some respected academic and clinical institutions.

However, an international team of researchers, based on the analysis of scientific data, has denied the allegation. Material published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Researchers from Canada, USA and Australia put an end to the misleading statements in which the health risks associated with sitting down for long periods of time, are equal to Smoking cigarettes.

According to studies, excessive sitting (eight hours or more a day) increases the risk of premature death and some chronic diseases by 10-20%, but these figures pale compared with the risks associated with Smoking cigarettes. Statistics show that Smoking increases the risk of premature death from any cause by about 180%.

The simple fact is that Smoking is one of the greatest disasters in public health of the last century. Sitting there, and you can’t compare this couple, says Dr. Terry Boyle (Terry Boyle), an epidemiologist from the University of South Australia (University of South Australia), one of the members of the research team.

First, associated with Smoking the risks of developing chronic diseases and premature death significantly exceed the risks from prolonged sitting. For people leading a sedentary lifestyle, the risk of certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases are higher by about 10-20%, whereas in smokers the risk of death from cancer and cardiovascular diseases is more than two times and lung cancer by more than 1000%.

Second, the economic consequences and the number of deaths caused by diseases associated with Smoking far outweigh the consequences associated with prolonged sitting. For example, the annual global cost of diseases from Smoking are estimated at 467 billion (according to 2012). It is expected that Smoking will lead at least to one billion deaths in the 21st century.

And finally, unlike Smoking, sitting is not an addiction and not a danger to others.

Equating risk seat to Smoking manifestly ill-founded and misleading, and serves only to minimize the risks associated with Smoking, sums up Terry Boyle.